The Causes of the First World War

Authors Avatar

The Causes of the First World War

Alex Hayes 9cg


Introduction

There are a lot of reasons for the outbreak of the First World War. In this piece of writing I will be explaining the causes of the First World War in the topics of Long term causes, short term causes and triggers.


The Long term causes

The Development of the alliance system-

The Triple Alliance was the alliance which Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy pledged (May 20, 1882) to support each other in the event of an attack against any of them by two or more great powers. Germany and Italy also agreed to support one another in the event of attack by France. The triple alliance would rival the Triple Entente of Britain, France and the later on Russia.

Join now!

Colonial Rivalry

After 1870, the European nations began to acquire colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. In Africa, all the European powers except Austria and Russia had colonies there. Colonial rivalry was a cause of the First World War because Germany envied Britain and France because f their huge empires. The Kaiser believed that Germany should also have a massive empire.

Military Rivalry

All the countries of Europe wanted to be the best. The growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and ...

This is a preview of the whole essay